It’s unfortunate Horkeimer and Aforno rip apart movies because I love them. Movies aren’t made to brainwash people, they are produced as a source of entertainment. You’re not supposed to go to a movie theater, watch the entire movie, go home and reenact what events had just occurred. Horkeimer and Aforno start off their piece by saying “Films, radio and magazines make up a system which is uniform as a whole and in every part” (1223). Right, they do all work together, but not necessarily in a bad way. Again, movies, the radio and magazines are all here for entertainment– they’re not always supposed to be taken seriously or literally. Movies are made to make people laugh, cry, and enjoy themselves. Many people work or go to school all day, so having some down time watching a movie is what America likes to do.

Because both men are labeled as “philosophical thinkers,” I’d imagine that they feel as though people should pick up books and further educate themselves rather than wasting their time watching movies.

Anyway, on page 1224 Horkeimer and Aforno said “Movies and radio need no longer pretend to be art. The truth that they are just business is made into an ideology in order to justify the rubbish they deliberately produce.” Ahh they really hate movies huh? Basically they’re saying how the movies and radio maybe aren’t as classy as they used to be? I guess I can agree with that, but then again, things change. Generations are changing and people “voice” their opinions a lot more freely now-a-days. I think they’re also saying how the producers don’t care if their movies are raunchy or distasteful because they’re an empire, all they care about is making money.. but it’s true because people pay to be entertained.

As far as magazines go, many people do buy magazines because they want to read the latest gossip on the stars and feed into the latest trends. But what do they expect? Women are conditioned to act girly and buy these magazines to keep up with the latest fashions! haha.

On page 1227 where they are discussing Mozart, I think they are just saying that they don’t like the change. They want the music to remain the same, and that goes for movies and radio.

Another thing I found interesting was on page1229 where they say “What happens at work, in the factory, or in the office can only be escaped from by approximation to it in one’s leisure time. All amusement suffers from this incurable malady. Pleasure hardens into boredom because, if it is to remain pleasure, it must not demand any effort and therefore moves rigorously in the worm grooves of association. No independent thinking must be expected from the audience..” I think they’re saying how lazy people are because if people aren’t captivated within the first few seconds of something, they get bored and turn the channel or turn off the movie. Books for example, many people would choose a movie before a book. A lt of people view books as boring or they relate them to homework and movies as viewed as entertainment.

All in all, it’s a little upsetting how much these guys hate movies!